This application claims benefit of Japanese Application Nos. 2000-402677 filed on Dec. 28, 2000, 2000-402678 filed on Dec. 28, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle management system for managing the conditions of users"" vehicles so as to assist in avoiding occurrence of failure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it has become a matter of common practice to include a failure diagnosis system, which can read data from an electronic controller mounted on a vehicle, for the purpose of diagnosing a failure of an automobile or any other vehicles. One of failure diagnosis systems of this type is disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 7-15427 filed by the present applicant. In the disclosed failure diagnosis system, data is stored within an on-vehicle electronic controller, that is, detection signals generated by sensors and switches, control signals to be transmitted to actuators including fuel injectors, and arithmetic data calculated within the system are stored within the on-vehicle electronic controller. The data stored within the on-vehicle electronic controller is read into a main apparatus of the failure diagnosis system or an external computer, which is connected to the main apparatus and has an expert system implemented therein, in order to explore defective components or causes of failure. Consequently, required repair or adjustment can be carried out.
However, the conventional failure diagnosis system is designed on the assumption that it is used at the time of regular inspection or after a vehicle has actually failed. The use frequency of the system or the site of use thereof is therefore limited. Consequently, it is hard to grasp the time-sequential changes in performance of the components of the vehicle occurring with the requirements for daily actual use by a user so as to thus manage the condition of the vehicle. There is difficulty in taking preventive measures in case of a failure.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle management system for managing the conditions of users"" vehicles so as to assist in avoiding occurrence of a failure and improving preventive safety.
Briefly, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle management system in which control information provided by a controller mounted on each vehicle is recorded in a database, and the condition of each vehicle is diagnosed based on the recorded control information. The result of the diagnosis is distributed to at least one of the user of the vehicle and departments to which the authority to access the database is granted. Before an abnormality actually occurs in the vehicle, the user is notified of the possibility of the occurrence. This contributes to improvement of preventive safety. Moreover, the result of diagnosis is fed back to departments concerned so that it will be reflected on quality control or vehicle development.
Other features of the present invention and the advantages thereof will be fully apparent from the description provided below.